ESPN made a big announcement this week that its first major card on its new subscription streaming service would be Terence Crawford trying to win a welterweight title vs. Jeff Horn in June. And you could forgive Crawford if, at first, he wasn’t happy about it.

Terence Crawford, right, will move up to welterweight to take on Jeff Horn in June. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Considering his last fight drew nearly 1 million viewers to ESPN for his 140-pound unification fight with Julius Indongo, he probably won’t get anywhere near that number on the ESPN Plus app. If Crawford wants to become the next American superstar—and clearly, he does—you could understand why he was cautious about the idea of fighting exclusively on the cable network’s livestream, especially since he drew plenty of fans on the actual network.

But Top Rank president Todd duBoef was there to reassure Crawford that fighting on ESPN Plus is a positive for him. In fact, duBoef said he saw the network’s decision to use Crawford as an honor.

“I think he is a star. He has all the abilities,” duBoef, whose promotions company has done strong ratings numbers in its new ESPN deal, told Forbes. “We’re just repositioning the product onto a platform that now has a lot of muscle. It’s collecting sports fans so we can unclick those storylines and exposure to the fighters.”

When Crawford was first asked if he was OK with starring in the first major fight on ESPN Plus—Amir Khan is making his return to the ring on April 21 with a fight on the app, but it’s against a relatively mid-level opponent in Phil Lo Greco—Crawford told Forbes, “If [the app] fails, they’re going to look at me as if it’s my fault.”

But after he was told about how the app can benefit him and his career, Crawford said, “I’m honored that ESPN chose me and my welterweight debut to be the first major fight on ESPN Plus. We are going to put on one hell of a show for everyone watching on ESPN Plus ...”

ESPN’s announcement this week about its new $4.99-per-month app was met with some excitement in the boxing world, because it’ll feature 12 additional Top Rank cards and six international events that’ll be exclusive to the streaming service.

But fans most likely were counting on the Horn-Crawford fight to be featured on the ESPN network. Now, those fans will have to pay $5 per month to watch Crawford’s 147-pound debut.

But as duBoef is quick to remind, the original plan for Crawford was to have him meet Horn in the main event with Manny Pacquiao on the undercard and put the entire event on PPV in April. The Horn-Crawford fight was never meant for the main network in the first place. But Pacquiao didn’t want to fight on the undercard and Crawford injured his hand, pushing his bout back by two months.

Now, Crawford will get good exposure from the NBA Finals on the main network, especially since the Crawford fight will be sandwiched between Games 4 and 5.

“They felt the Crawford synergy with the NBA,” duBoef said. “And they thought putting Crawford on ESPN Plus, they could market the hell out of it during the Finals.”

In addition to those 18 extra cards on the app, ESPN Plus subscribers also will have access to a boxing studio show and Top Rank’s archives, which includes the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier trilogy, the Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran trilogy, and Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns.

Meanwhile Crawford, who is ranked No. 2 on my pound for pound list and No. 6 on my Pound-For-Pound Moneymakers list, still is trying to break into mainstream stardom. duBoef said Crawford’s next fight will be on the main network.

You can also expect to see other Top Rank stars like Vasyl Lomachenko and Oscar Valdez shuffle between the main network and the streaming service as Top Rank looks to the future on how to present boxing to viewers and fans who aren't necessarily tied to cable companies.

Meanwhile, Crawford still waits to become a star.

“You have to have the right fight,” Crawford said. “Anthony Joshua had [Wladimir] Klitschko. Canelo [Alvarez] had Floyd Mayweather and [Miguel] Cotto. Those fights took them to the next level popularity-wise. I just have to keep winning and keep winning in the spectacular fashion that I’ve been winning.”

After more than a decade in the newspaper business writing about virtually every professional and major college sport for publications like the Cincinnati Post and the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, I joined CBSSports.com and covered the NFL for five years. While doing so, I wrote...